Reader’s Digest Reveals Most Trusted Brands in Canada for 2018

The author(s)

Toronto, ON, January 8, 2018 — From hybrid cars to nutrition bars, Canadians know what they trust and trust what they know. The latest annual Ipsos survey for Reader’s Digest Canada looks at 30 different categories of products and services to find out which brands Canadians trust the most. To earn the title of “Most Trusted Brand” in its category, a brand must receive a statistically significantly higher number of mentions than any other brand in that category on an open-ended basis.

Trust Matters

While Canadians are savvy shoppers, their choices don’t always boil down to price alone. In a market environment where a plethora of brands are competing for the same consumer dollars, a little trust goes a long way. Half of Canadians (49%) admit (9% strongly/40% somewhat) they buy items based on price alone, but the overwhelming majority (92%) agree (36% strongly/56% somewhat) that when a product or service’s quality and price are similar, they tend to buy the one from the company they trust more.

Trust also prompts Canadians to invest in companies and even consider working for them: nine in ten (90%) say (35% strongly/55% somewhat) they’re more likely to invest their money in a company they trust, while eight in ten (81%) say (21% strongly/61% somewhat) they’ll pay a little more money to support a product or service from a company they trust than a company they don’t trust. Nine in ten Canadians (93%) also agree (43% strongly/50% somewhat) they’d be more willing to work for a company that they trust.

What prompts brand trust among Canadian consumers? Companies that hold themselves accountable and are seen to be transparent about what they’re selling. Nine in ten Canadians (92%) agree (37% strongly/55% somewhat) they trust companies that stand behind their products, while nearly eight in ten (78%) agree (21% strongly/58% somewhat) they’re more likely to trust a company that announces product recalls.

Brand endorsements from respected outside sources also remain important to a majority of Canadians. Six in ten (61%) agree (7% strongly/54% somewhat) they trust third party recognition of products and services such as awards or seals of excellence.

When companies are proactive about earning consumers’ trust, the end result is a strong degree of brand loyalty. Most Canadians agree that they:

Consider themselves very loyal to brands and companies that they support: 83% (24% strongly/59% somewhat)

Give trusted companies the benefit of the doubt when they're in trouble: 70% (7% strongly/62% somewhat)

Not only does trust prompt brand loyalty, it also makes consumers more receptive to messaging from their trusted brands. More than eight in ten (85%) agree (25% strongly/60% somewhat) they pay more attention to companies they trust than to companies they don’t, while three in four (76%) say (18% strongly/57% somewhat) they’re more likely to remember advertisements from companies or brands that they trust. Conversely, when a company that Canadians don’t trust is in trouble, eight in ten (81%) say they view that company’s actions and messages skeptically (19% strongly/62% somewhat).

About the Study

These are some of the findings of an Ipsos poll conducted between August 22nd and August 31st, 2017 on behalf of Reader’s Digest Canada. For this survey, a sample of 4,001 Canadians aged 18+ was interviewed, including 925 French-speaking respondents. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics to ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. The precision of Ipsos online polls is measured using a credibility interval. In this case, the overall Canadian sample of 4,001 respondents is accurate to within ±1.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, had all Canadian adults been polled. The sample of 925 French-speaking respondents has an associated credibility interval of ±3.7 percentage points, 19 times out of 20. The credibility interval will be wider among subsets of the population. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

Winning brands are determined by unprompted, open-ended votes and confirmed to be statistically significant from next brand(s). Any categories where the winning brand is not significantly different from the other brands is considered a tie. A follow-up survey was conducted where the tied brands were put against each other, prompted, and the winning brand was identified from the runoff. If one brand’s votes were statistically significantly higher than the others, it was declared the winner – otherwise it remained a tie.

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice made up of seasoned professionals. We conduct strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of Canadian American and international organizations, based not only on public opinion research, but elite stakeholder, corporate, and media opinion research.

Ipsos has media partnerships with the most prestigious news organizations around the world. In Canada, Ipsos Public Affairs is the polling partner for Global News. Internationally, Ipsos Public Affairs is the media polling supplier to Reuters News, the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. Ipsos Public Affairs is a member of the Ipsos Group, a leading global survey-based market research company. We provide boutique-style customer service and work closely with our clients, while also undertaking global research.

About Ipsos

Ipsos is an independent market research company controlled and managed by research professionals. Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos has grown into a worldwide research group with a strong presence in all key markets. Ipsos ranks fourth in the global research industry.

With offices in 88 countries, Ipsos delivers insightful expertise across five research specializations: brand, advertising and media; customer loyalty; marketing; public affairs research; and survey management.

Ipsos researchers assess market potential and interpret market trends. They develop and build brands. They help clients build long-term relationships with their customers. They test advertising and study audience responses to various media and they measure public opinion around the globe.

Ipsos has been listed on the Paris Stock Exchange since 1999 and generated global revenues of €1,782.7 million in 2016.